


Simple Arithmetic

by Jaydee_Faire



Category: Final Fantasy Tactics
Genre: F/F, Gen, Math, Slice of Life, girl time, otherwise it's just banter, this is only shippy if you really want it to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 05:17:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20168782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaydee_Faire/pseuds/Jaydee_Faire
Summary: Alma and Tietra try to keep their minds on their studies.





	Simple Arithmetic

“And the sum of twice ten and our hidden number is equal to seven. Which means our hidden number is…?”

“A brace of bandits,” Tietra said, grinning. “On his own! Not even out of the Akademy and I’ll bet he’s on his way to a knighthood, don’t you think?”

Alma sighed. “The negative of thirteen,” she said. “Tietra, I am as elated at the news of our brothers’ triumphs as you are, but we do have an exam tomorrow.”

“I know. I know we do.” Tietra plucked another wine cup out of the grass, picking it to pieces between her fingers. “But haven’t you thought about it, Alma, haven’t you thought about it! My brother against ten cutthroats, badly outnumbered, fighting for his life–”

“I don’t think it was ten,” Alma smiled. “And he had help, my brother and three other students were there with him, though it’s said they all fought very bravely.”

“–and for the Crown!” Tietra was on her feet, brandishing a stick like a sword. “Imagine it! _My_ brother!”

“They’ll be home some time this evening,” Alma said, “that is, if they did leave Gariland as soon as they were able, as the messenger said. And when Delita returns, wouldn’t you like to have something to tell him to make him proud of you? How hard you’ve been studying, perhaps?”

Tietra sat down again, skirts pooling out around her. “I suppose. But I cannot sit and calmly recite strings of numbers and letters as you can. My mind scatters like a flock of startled sheep in the best of times, and now with this news! I’ll never be able to make sense of it.”

“Take a few deep breaths, and calm yourself,” Alma said. “Think only of the numbers.”

“I’m sure it was easier for you in the convent.” Nimble brown fingers, left to their own devices, were gathering up wine cups and weaving them into a chain. “Not much else to think about.”

“And a nun always standing behind me with a ruler, should she suspect my thoughts were straying,” Alma said sternly. “I don’t want to have to do that to you, but I will if it does anything at all to help. My father would be so disappointed to see you fail in school, especially after all he’d done to see you enrolled. To say nothing of Delita!”

“I can imagine his face,” Tietra said morosely, unaware that she had the same serious brow as her brother, and the same small mouth that held smiles only briefly. “Frowning at me as if he isn’t as hopeless at arithmetic as I am. Oh, Alma, can’t we rest for a little while? I promise we can come back to it.”

“For a few minutes,” Alma conceded, then, “truthfully, I’ve been thinking of Ramza all afternoon. I saw him only briefly before he returned to the Akademy this last time, and now this news of bandits running amok in the streets… He’s splendid with a sword, of course, but I’d rather he didn’t have to use it.”

“If I know Ramza, he would have tried to stop the fight before it came to that. ‘Ho there, bandits! Let’s not have all this violence, we can talk it all out over tea,’” Tietra giggled. 

“He doesn’t like to lift a weapon unless he has to. He’s like our father that way.”

“He’s a good man, your brother,” Tietra said, then looked down at her hands. “I mean– he’s very honorable.”

A wicked smile curled Alma’s mouth. “And handsome?”

“No!” Tietra waved her hands. “Well– yes, but only so handsome as he must be.”

“Only as handsome as he must be?” Alma laughed. “How handsome must he be? Shall I start calling the Guard on ugly men in the streets?”

“Alma that isn’t what I meant–”

“Oh, I know what you meant, my dear Tietra. And you had better keep hold of that stick, for you’ll need it to fight off my brother’s other suitors. Even the youngest Beoulve son is still a Beoulve, you know.”

“As are you,” Tietra pointed out.

“Oh yes, and if you cannot seize Ramza’s hand in marriage, I would be a fine second choice,” Alma teased. 

“He would never even think of it,” Teitra said. “I am as much of a sister to him as you are. And though I think Ser Barnabeth would allow it, Dycedarg never would.”

“Tietra! How could you say such a thing, all of my brothers are very fond of you!”

“Not so fond as to let me further thin the line with my commoner’s blood.” Tietra set her woven chain of flowers aside. “I’ve heard the servants talking about it, when they think I cannot hear them.”

“I shall have words–”

“No, no. Please. I don’t want rumors flying that I have designs on Ramza Beoulve. You, though,” she said thoughtfully, “yes, you could use a strong, sensible woman in your life.”

Alma snorted with laughter, face red. “And shall you be Tietra Beoulve?”

“Oh, of course not. You’d be Alma Heiral, naturally. And I will wear trousers at our wedding.”

“I’m honored,” Alma said, still breathless with laughter. “But alas, my heart belongs first to Saint Ajora. You can take your vows to Him if you wish.”

“No thank you,” Tietra said, wrinkling her nose. “I’ll remain here, out in the fresh air.”

“With your hair flying all over the place,” Alma said, leaning over to pluck a petal out of Tietra’s dark locks. “I wouldn’t like to see you cloistered, either.” Her smile grew softer. “You will make a fine wife for a very happy man,” she said.

“Zalbaag is also quite comely. And unattached,” Tietra said. “Alright, our recess is over. Arithmetic will douse your wild fantasies nicely.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was the result of another prompt, for Alma/Tietra, but I utterly failed in making it romantic again. 
> 
> Tietra, if you were better at math, maybe you could have calculated the trajectory of that crossbow bolt before it nailed you.


End file.
